Alliance
by pixil
Summary: Clarice has been banned from the Hannibal Lector case. And Hannibal is out somewhere around the world. Who knew he was posing as a History teacher in the Avery, Texas Highschool? Most of all, who knew Clarice had a family? Hannibal Lector knew.


Disclaimer: Umm... last time I checked I didn't own any of the Hannibal characters... but I can check again!  
  
In the heart of Texas, in a small town called Avery, a man in his mid fifty's walked down the sidewalk headed for the restaurant across the street. The sign above the building read, "Lippie's". The man wore a brown hat atop his head, and dark sunglasses. On his upper torso, he wore a white, button up shirt. He had on a pair of blue jeans and nice black shoes. Not your every day outfit.  
  
He strolled into the advanced diner and took a seat in the back by a window in which a cherry tree could be seen. The restaurant looked plain. The walls were a musty brown, the seats matched. The floor was checkered with black and white. The diner seemed simple and empty, with only a few customers. The man took out a piece of fine notebook paper and a professional, custom made pen. He began to scribble on the paper in fancy penmanship. He let the pen meet the paper and let his hand move gracefully over it, writing out the letters:  
  
Dearest Cla  
  
---All of a sudden, he was abruptly interrupted by loud, obnoxious laughter that could be heard from the front of the diner. He closed his eyes in frustration. After a few seconds, he opened them, and lifted his head up in the direction the noise had come from. He witnessed five teenagers having a salt fight. They were whooping and cheering as two males sat across each other and started flicking salt at one another. The three remaining teenagers (two female, one male) stood around cheering their friends on.  
  
The man surveyed the teens, almost in a menacing way. He watched closely as they enjoyed the competition.  
  
"C'mon, Clark! Kick his ass!" One of the teenagers yelled to a boy with black spiky hair and brilliant blue eyes. The boy had a small silver earring in his left ear and wore a red polo shirt with baggy blue jeans.  
  
"No way! Chris can whip his ass!" Another teenager shouted to the opposing player. Chris wore a tight black shirt and nice khaki jeans with nice black shoes and a black cowboy hat. Chris had neat blonde hair under his pretty hat.  
The one girl that stood next to Clark had her brunette hair tied back into a ponytail and her deep brown eyes covered with sunglasses. She had on a tight brown shirt that ended just above her pierced navel. She wore ripped jeans and dirty cowboy boots.  
  
Next to her, stood a tall young man with black hair. He wore a muscle shirt, covered by a blue button up tee. He wore faded black pants.  
  
"Give it up Ashleigh! Clark is going to win! Just look at Chris!" The brunette yelled to the other girl.  
  
Ashleigh had long blonde hair, which was pushed back by a pink headband, and icy blue eyes. She wore a matching pink shirt that 'V'ed down her chest. She had on dark blue pants and a thick black belt. She too wore cowboy boots, but were much cleaner then the other girls.  
  
"Screw that thought! Carrie, you know Clark doesn't stand a chance!" Ashleigh shouted to Carrie.  
  
"Just watch!" Brian shouted to the two girls (the guy in the middle of the girls).  
  
Clark started flicking more salt at Chris. Chris tried to recover from the attack, but the salt was getting in his eyes. He suddenly stood up and through up his hands in defeat.  
  
"Mercy! I said Mercy!" He yelled as he started to rub the salt out of his eyes. "C'mon, Clark! You win!"  
  
Just then, the doors to the diner opened, and a beautiful young girl walked in. She had long, dark, red hair. Her eyes were a chocolate brown. She wore a light purple spaghetti strapped shirt and baby blue, faded jeans. Her hair was curled in loose, vertical spirals. She was a dazzling sight.  
  
"Hey, Rachael!" Ashleigh called over to the girl who walked in.  
  
"Howdy, Rachael!" Chris didn't even look up to greet her; he was busy dusting salt off himself.  
  
Rachael walked towards the group of kids. She saw Clark, and her eyes sparkled immediately.  
  
Clark turned around with a bright smile, but it instantly vanished when he saw what was on her right cheek. "Rachael, what happened?" He asked, worry replenished his voice. He stood up and walked over to his friend.  
  
She didn't bother to move, but she directed her gaze to something else. "I... I fell off my horse and hit a rock. You know how clumsy I am." She hesitated and gave a fake laugh. She couldn't keep the depression out of her voice.  
  
Clark looked at her with eyes full of sympathy and helplessness. He turned around and looked at his friends while Rachael's eyes were still darting every where else but their way. He gave his friends a look of pity and understanding. He looked back at Rachael and put his hand up to her face. He cupped the side of her cheek and stroked his thumb across a hideous bruise that had swelled just below her eye. It was a mix of colors: black, blue, purple, green, yellow, even hints of red that could be assumed as blood.  
  
He moved his hand to her chin and tilted her head so that her eyes met his. She stared him in the eye, getting lost in his brilliant blue pools. He moved his free hand to her arm and directed her away to a nearby wall.  
  
She followed with no complaints, but she knew what was coming.  
  
When they reached their destination, he pulled her over to get another look at her, he made sure that her eyes met his.  
  
"Rachael... Look me in the eye, and tell me the truth." Clark said above her, with an all too serious face.  
  
Rachael looked him in the eyes, but said nothing. A few minutes passed by before she diverted her gaze to the floor. Tears started to swell up and streak down her cheeks. In an instant, she had her head resting in Clarks shoulder with his arms secured safely around her back and waist.  
  
"It was Andy, wasn't it?" Clark whispered above her.  
  
She cried harder at his question.  
  
"I knew it." Clark answered. "How can he do this to you? You suffer enough. I swear, Rachael, I swear, when I find him, he'll---"  
  
"NO!" She screamed, suddenly looking up from his shoulder. Fear mingled with her tears and flushed face. "You cant!" She said a little more hushed, noticing that he other customers were now watching them. "If he finds out that I told, then I'll be in trouble!"  
  
"But you didn't tell me, I found out on my own!" Clark whispered back.  
  
"It doesn't matter... he can't find out that you know! Please, please, just don't tell him!" She cried and pleaded to Clark.  
  
He just stood their, helpless of the fact that he couldn't do anything to save her. He pulled her into a hug. "I'll do whatever it takes to protect you." He whispered above her. He let her cry into his shoulder.  
  
"Hey, Clark! Rachael! We're leaving, c'mon!" The other kids shouted to the two. "Clark Samner and Rachael Starling! Lets go!" The two puled away from their hug, they smiled at each other and headed off with their friends out the diner door.  
  
A waitress walked over to the table they had been sitting at and shook her head in disgust. "Those little brats." She muttered under her breath, with a few other choice words.  
  
The man sitting at the table in the back by the window witnessed the whole event. He smiled slightly and looked back down to his paper. He let pu the pen to the parchment and began to write again.  
  
Dearest Clarice,  
  
**************************************************************************** *****  
  
Review please. 


End file.
